Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SAM AND JIM, by WALT MASON Poet's Biography First Line: When old sam johnson sat in state, that Last Line: Pompous prodigies lie down, and, dying, kill off their renown. Subject(s): Authors And Authorship; Biography; Old Age; Writing & Writers; Biographers | ||||||||
WHEN old Sam Johnson sat in state, that man of learning, wise and great, with Burke and Goldsmith and the rest, Jim Boswell was the butt and jest. They all must have their flings at Jim, and none had much respect for him. Methinks, had some prophetic dub appeared before them at their club, and said, "This man who is your goat, at whom you laugh with scornful note, will by the multitudes be read, when all your junk is stale and dead," old Sam would then have raised a roar: "Begone, false prophetthere's the door!" And yet great Johnson, mighty sage, the shining marvel of his age, lives only in the book that Jim so reverently wrote of him. Jim's immortality is sure; down to the Judgment 'twill endure, while those who jeered his little games, have left but half-forgotten names. And it may be, men now on earth, whose work we think has little worth, will leave a deathless fame behind when they have quit their humble grind, while pompous prodigies lie down, and, dying, kill off their renown. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN AMERICAN BEAUTY; FOR ANN LONDON by CAROLYN KIZER MY GOOD FATHER by CAROLYN KIZER ON ANTI-BIOGRAPHY by WILL ALEXANDER UGO BASSI by HARRIET ELEANOR HAMILTON (BAILLE) KING EPIGRAM: LADY BIOGRAPHER by WILLIAM JAY SMITH MY LIFE BY SOMEBODY ELSE by MARK STRAND |
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